EVENTS

Can you guess who said this?

When a couple were denied a marriage license because the justice of the peace said that their proposed marriage would be harmful to children and also violated his personal beliefs, the state’s governor was outraged and thundered, “This is a clear violation of Constitutional rights and federal and state law. Mr. Bardwell’s actions should be fully reviewed by the Judiciary Commission and disciplinary action should be taken immediately, including the revoking of his license” and when Bardwell finally resigned his position, the governor said that it was “long overdue”.

Give up?

Brian Tashman writes that the person who said this was Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal in 2009.

Why was Jindal, an outspoken defender of Kim Davis’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her personal beliefs, saying the opposite back in 2009? Because Bardwell had refused a license to an inter-racial couple.

As Tashman writes:

While it would be shocking to find a politician today who would support a public official like Bardwell who wanted to unilaterally deny marriage licenses to interracial couples, Republican leaders are now rallying around a small handful of officials who likewise believe that their personal beliefs about marriage should trump the country’s legal system.

Jindal is now attacking his rivals in the race for the White House for taking the exact same stance that he did in 2009 when Bardwell tried to deny a marriage license to a couple who were legally eligible to marry. Jindal now says that state officials should be exempt from issuing marriage licenses to legally eligible couples if they have personal objections, claiming that it is their right based on personal conscience — a right apparently not afforded to Bardwell.

Of course Jindal is a craven political opportunist so this kind of double-talk should not really come as a surprise.